martes, julio 04, 2006

La terrible alternativa/escenario de Bertolt

Sargeant: What they could use around here is a good war. What else can you expect with peace running wild all over the place? You know what the trouble with peace is? No organization. And when do you get organization? In a war. Peace is one big waste of equipment. Anything goes, no one gives a damn. See the way they eat? Cheese on pumpernickel, bacon on the cheese? Disgusting! How many horses have they got in this town? How many young men? Nobody knows! They haven't bothered to count 'em!
That's peace for you! I've been given names! They don't know who they are! It takes a war to fix that. In a war, everyone registers, everyone's name's on a list. Their shoes are stacked, their corn's in the bag, you count it all up --cattle, men, et cetera-- and you take it away! That's the story: no organization, no war!
From Bertolt Brecht's "Mother Courage and her children", English version by Eric Bentley, Grove Press, New York.